FZZT pt2
by silentpixiee
Summary: This is a tag of sorts. In this version of F.Z.Z.T, Skye is the one infected by the virus, not Simmons. (SkyeWard)
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: **Hello everyone! I bring you all a brand new fic, which you all can thank the wonderful **Emmy-Kent **for, since she requested it! And while I had the beginning of this idea already typed up on my laptop, I had let some dust gather on it while I worked on the other stuff I've put out, and it wasn't until she sent me the kindest request ever! **Emmy-Kent**, you sure know how to boost someone confidence! Thank you so much for reading what I put out; I really hope you enjoy this and that I do your idea justice.

**Warning: **While I'm sure most people have seen F.Z.Z.T, this fic contains many spoilers, so stop here if you don't want to be spoiled.

**FYI: **just want to put it out there that some of the lines you read in this fic were taken directly from the episode (I won't disclose how many times I had to watch this ep to get the complete transcript down). I only did it this way to try to keep it true to the ep as much as possible, seeing as this is a tag of sorta to F.Z.Z.T.

That said….

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing! I don't own AoS, I don't own the characters, I don't own Marvel, so please don't sue. :- )

* * *

Skye sat in the lab with Fitz, quietly watching the scientist as he worked. Since she and Ward weren't exactly on speaking terms at the moment, training had been canceled until further notice. And while she _could_ attempt to train on her own, she'd much rather be with company, then alone.

"Sky—"

"Fitz, you wanted to see me?" Ward asked, interrupting the younger agent as he walked in.

"Uh, yea, yea. I um, I finished the night-night gun and needed you to make sure it's good." He said, briefly glancing at a very silent Skye.

Ward followed Fitz gaze for a brief second before turning back to the task at hand. He didn't care for the hacker all that much at the moment.

He picked up the gun and maneuvered it around his hands for a few seconds, trying to get a feel for it, before he swiftly lifted into a shooting position.

Ward sighed, "Sorry, Fitz. It's close, but it's just not right." He said handing the gun back.

Fitz gaped at the man, confused. "Really?" he questioned. "Cause agent Coulson had no problems."

Ward shrugged. "It's an ounce too heavy."

"An ounce? Seriously?" Skye asked speaking up for the first time since Ward had entered the lab.

Ward spared her a glance before directing his attention to Fitz. "It's the difference between success and failure when you're on a rooftop with a 15 mile an hour wind, and your target is 500 yards away." He explained casually.

Skye sighed softly, turning her attention to her chipping nails. Ward couldn't make it anymore clearer that he didn't want her on this team.

"Well yea, I guess… bu-but that's why we have the rifle, no?" Fitz asked.

Ward sighed, frustrated. "Lose the ounce, Fitz." He said quickly making his exit and leaving a flustered Fitz behind.

"Lose the ounce, Fitz." he muttered under his breath, clearly annoyed with the agent. "I'm agent Grant Ward and I can shoot the legs off a flea from 500 yards as long as it's not windy." He mocked playfully, arms on his hips.

Skye stared, trying unsuccessfully not to laugh.

"Hey, that's a sound I haven't heard in a long time." Fitz said, walking over to Skye. He must admit, he'd actually missed the playful hacker.

Skye sighed. She kind of missed her old self too.

"Yeah, well, you wouldn't be laughing a whole lot if you were living in Ward's doghouse." She muttered sadly.

Fitz frowned. He really did feel bad for her. Everyone made mistakes, and in his opinion, she'd suffered enough.

"You made the rounds, apologized to us all; what more can he ask for?" he scoffed.

Skye shrugged, swinging side to side slowly in the stool she sat on. "I don't know. I have literally been busting my ass! Memorizing every S.H.I.E.L.D. protocol manual, following every order, "Yes, sir.", "No, sir."… I even let them tag me like a stray dog!" she said clearly frustrated. "I mean, I know I lied to you guys, but I was trying to protect my boyfriend."

Fitz nodded sympathetically. "I know it's rough, but give'em some more time. Ward's not like the rest of us, after all."

"Yeah, I guess."

Skye turned her attention back to the laptop she'd been messing with before Ward had come in, when Jemma entered the lab.

"Well, that took longer than expected." She said, dropping her clipboard on the counter. "Oh no, Ward was here again, wasn't he?" she picked up the night-night gun and turned to her partner. "What's wrong with it now?"

Fitz smirked. "He said it was off by an ounce."

Jemma rolled her eyes. "Of course he did." She weighed the gun on her hand then set it down exasperatedly. They'd been trying to perfect the damn night-night gun forever, it seemed. "I'm agent Grant Ward, and I could rupture your spleen with my left pinky blind-folded!" she said mocking the older agent in a rather nasaly voice.

Skye chuckled, incredibly amused by the pair of scientist.

"That is dead on!" she chuckled.

"Well than—Oh, Agent Ward."

Jemma straightened up as Ward walked into the lab, a suspicious look on his face.

"Something funny?" he asked, folding his arms across his broad chest.

"Uh no, no… just-"

"Poor silly Fitz, he mistakenly left a dummy round in the pistol." Jemma said, ending Fitz's fantastic stammering. "Should be proper now." She handed the gun over to him, biting her bottom lip in anticipation.

Ward took the gun, eyeing her cautiously, before testing it as he'd done earlier with Fitz.

"Hm, great. Thanks." He said, handing it back to her. "Now hustle up and grab your gear; we're on a mission."

Skye, Fitz, and Jemma watched Wards retreating back, trying hard to stifle their laughter. Ward was something else, for sure.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

"So, what exactly are we looking for here?" May asked, walking alongside Coulson and the team.

They landed in the middle of nowhere a few minutes ago and had yet to be informed on what the mission was.

Coulson stopped in the middle of the forest and motioned to the area around them. "Local police got a call from some kids last night; they said their troop leader had been killed. When the cops arrived, one of the boys said the troop leader, Adam Cross, had apparently heard something in the woods and went to check it out. That's where the electrostatic anomaly occurred." He explained.

"Weird, from what I understand, electrostatic anomalies are caused by massive electrical storms-"

"Which didn't occur anywhere near the area last night," Jemma said, cutting Fitz off.

Coulson smiled, "Right, which is why we're here."

"Right, Sir." Jemma said blushing. "We're just going to go have a looksie." She said, ushering Fitz to the other end of the wooded area.

Coulson looked on amused. Those two were something else.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

"The battery blew straight through the hood." May said, dusting off her hands.

"It landed over here." Ward pointed out, squatting over the charred battery. "Had to of been one hell of a force to create that kind of trajectory."

He stood to his full height and walked towards the edge of the wooded area; Skye following closely behind.

Since they weren't training in the makeshift gym they had, she'd opted to shadow her S.O. instead, and get some field experience. So far he hadn't objected, since he didn't have to really talk to her.

"Omf" Skye bounced back, startled as she ran into Ward's back. "Sorry." She muttered quietly, looking anywhere but at him.

"What are you doing?" he asked annoyance clear in his voice.

Skye tucked a loose strand of hair behind her ear. "I uh, I'm shadowing my supervising officer." She explained feeling a bit intimidated. Ward was a big guy.

"Shadowing, not smothering." He said, walking away from her.

Skye huffed, completely at a loss. This whole thing was seriously starting to get on her nerves. She had literally tried everything she could think of to get back on Ward's good side, but everything she'd done hadn't worked. Maybe quitting would work. What was the point of sticking around if you weren't wanted, right?

"There's scorch marks all over that tree. Lucky the whole forest didn't burn down." Ward said, breaking Skye from her thoughts.

She gave herself a quick mental shake and focused on the task ahead. Last thing she needed to do was screw the mission up because her head wasn't in the game.

She jogged, quickly catching up with Ward as he made his way towards the rest of the team. Skye stuck close, observing her surrounding area.

"I don't get it. It seems to me like this electroshock thingy was some freak lightning strike.  
I mean, why call us? What's the big…nevermind." She trailed off as she came to face with a floating man. "Whoa…"

"It's so sad a man died this way, and yet, so amazing." Jemma said carefully taking a step towards the man's floating body.

Skye pushed past Coulson and May and stood beside Jemma and Fitz. Sometimes their job could be so cool!

"What could cause an effect like this?" she asked completely interested.

"Judging by the horizontal electrical discharge-"

"Perhaps nano-batteries, an electrical discharge, or it could be-"

"Time." Coulson said, interrupting both scientists as they spoke over each other. "Let's try that again. Any idea what could cause an effect like this?"

Jemma shrugged, "Hell if I know."

"No, not a clue." Fitz muttered, turning his attention back to the readings he was taking.

Skye chuckled, amused at the pair. They were so cute together.

"Seems to me like we're dealing with some freak natural event or a new high-tech weapon." Ward said, stepping up beside Coulson.

"Or could it be someone from your uber-secret index?" Skye offered, circling the floating body and ending up on the opposite side of Jemma.

"There's no one on the index with that type of power." May informed.

"Not that we know of. I'll call HQ, see if anyone knows anything." Coulson said. "In the meantime, let's get the body back to the lab."

"Hey, what's this on his forehead?" Skye asked, curiously observing the area.

"Don't touch it!" Jemma admonished a little too late as a loud _zap_ sounded followed by Skye's startled scream as the body suddenly dropped.

"It wasn't me!" Skye yelled, rubbing her finger.

Ward walked over to her, anger visible on his handsome face.

"You were supposed to observe, not touch!" he said loudly. "Go back to the truck."

"Bu- I-"

"Now. That's an order." He cut her off roughly.

Skye glared at Ward for a second before walking away. This was hopeless.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

"Hey, you ok?"

Skye looked up to see Coulson standing at the door of her bunk.

"Hey Coulson. I'm good." She said, offering a small smile.

Coulson regarded his young hacker before walking into her room and making himself at home.

"I know Ward is being-"

"An ass?" she laughed humorlessly

Coulson smirked, "Well, I was going to say hard on you, but I suppose an ass works too."

"I'm really trying here, Coulson. I know I can't erase what I did, but I'm really trying. I don't know what else I can do to make him see how sorry I am." She said sadly. "I mean, if there even _is _something I can do, because at this point, it just seems kind of hopeless."

Coulson patted her leg sympathetically. He knew she was trying, but he also knew how much she'd hurt Ward, whether said agent admitted it or not.

"Hey, it's not hopeless. Nothing ever is." He said, smiling kindly. "Just keep doing what you're doing. Show him he can trust you by helping the team get to the bottom of this. And just give him some time. He'll come around."

Skye nodded. She was going to have to wait whether she wanted to or not- it appeared no one could rush badass Agent Ward into anything.

"So, what can I do to help?" she finally said, shuffling off the bed.

Coulson smiled, "I need you to get me all the info you can on our victim."

."Consider it done, AC." She bounded out of the room, leaving a pensive Coulson behind.

He really hoped he was right about her.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

"Skye, have you found anything on Adam Cross?" Couslon asked, walking into the computer room with Ward following closely behind.

Skye rolled her eyes. "Many things, actually, but you already knew that, thanks to my fancy SHIELD house-arrest gizmo, tracking my every key swipe, online activity, and cholesterol." She said, holding up her wrist. "I just wish it came in another color…or came off."

"The victim?" Ward said, not impressed by her.

"Right." She mumbled under her breath. _Tough crowd. _"Adam Cross…single, no kids, originally from Wrigley, Pennsylvania, not far from here."

"Been there. They have a nice little strawberry festival in the spring."Coulson smirked. "Occupation?"

"Um, phys-ed teacher at the local high school and varsity baseball coach and troop leader and volunteer firefighter. This guy makes Captain America look like "The Dude." She laughed, but quickly quieted down when Ward and Coulson just stared at her. "The Big Lebowski?" she questioned. "Seriously?

She looked from Ward to Coulson, finally giving up when they both just stared, unimpressed and definitely not amused. _Alright then… moving on!_

"What about a criminal record, restraining order, something that might give us a suspect?" Ward questioned, all business. He was all about getting the job done. The faster they figured this out, the less time he had to spend around his rookie.

She shook her head, swiping away old documents and pulling up new ones. "Nada, not even a parking ticket." She informed, impressed. "I skimmed all his posts, anyone linked to his pages, hoping for a crazy ex or super-powered stalker. It's clean."

Ward glared at her, arms crossed over his chest in typical Ward fashion. How people didn't get intimidated by that, was beyond her. If she didn't know him, she'd be terrified of him.

"Everybody looks clean on their first go-round." He spat bitterly.

Skye's sharp intake of breath was all that was heard before Coulson spoke up, breaking the awkward tension filled silence.

"Ward's right. We're missing something. Dig deeper." He ordered, offering her a reassuring smile.

Skye remained silent, not trusting herself to speak without bursting into tears in front of them. She simply nodded and walked away as fast as she could. After this mission was over, so was her S.H.I.E.L.D career. She refused to stay anywhere she clearly wasn't wanted.

Coulson sighed, his eyes following Skye's retreating form. "You're being too hard on her." He said quietly.

Ward shifted, but didn't speak. He knew he'd pushed it too far this time, but he couldn't help it; he was just so pissed at her and at _himself _for letting her get to him like this.

"She's trying Ward." Coulson added, now facing him.

"Sir, she lied to us. She contacted the Rising Tide while we were on mission. If she wants our trust back, she's got to earn it." Ward argued.

Coulson nodded. He understood where Ward was coming from, and even agreed with him to a certain extent. He knew when he was picking Ward to be a part of this team that he'd have to be extremely patient with him, since he clearly wasn't a team player. Ward was a lone wolf; he was trained to be the whole solution- a one man weapon. He couldn't expect him to trust people with his life that easily. But, he had a feeling they were a step closer.

"The background she ran on Cross is a good start. Put it up on the server. I want May to have a look when she's done with her interrogation." He finally said, leaving Ward alone.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

"I can't believe he said that!" Jemma huffed indigently as she listened to Skye tell her about Ward's behavior towards her. That man needed a serious reality check!

Skye shrugged, swinging her legs back and forth as she watched Jemma working in the lab. She'd decided to keep her friend company since she didn't have anything better to do and Fitz had excused himself from the area once the smell started to get to him. "It's not completely uncalled for. I _did _lie to you all and stuff."

Jemma put down the tool in her hand and walked over to Skye.

"Look, you've already apologized to everyone and I think you've more than proven yourself to the team; Agent Ward needs to let up a little." She said, reassuring the resident hacker.

"Yeah, I'm not holding my breath." She muttered quietly.

Jemma sighed, wishing she could talk about this more, but knowing that this mission was a bit more pressing at the time.

"Look, we'll talk after this is all over, ok? The faster I figure out what this is, the faster we can discuss what's going on."

"Deal." Skye remained quiet the rest of the time, giving her friend space to work.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoAoSAoSAoSAoS

"Anything new?" Couslon asked walking into the lab, acknowledging Skye with a quick nod.

Jemma looked up with those ridiculous looking glasses that always made Skye giggle.

"Still working, Sir!" she said, motioning Coulson over.

"Take a look at this, though!" she said ushering him towards the screen in front of them.

"What exactly am I looking at?" he asked, clearly confused.

"It's the victim's brain!"

"Whoa…" Skye gasped, stepping up behind them.

"It looks like a burnt baked potato." Coulson frowned.

"Yep, that's what happens when it's hit with close to 2,000 megajouls of electrostatic energy. That's almost double the power of a lightning bolt!" she squealed, practically vibrating with excitement.

"Have you figured out why the body was floating?" Skye asked.

"Not yet. The molecular density of the victim was temporarily altered by an unknown energy source. I'm hoping to shed some light on its effects once I extract a brain-tissue sample."

"Right, of course…"Skye gagged a little at the mention of extracting tissue.

"Sir, it's happening again!" Fitz suddenly said, interrupting the group.

"Where?"

"Uh… about 20 kilometers from here, Sir."

Skye quickly ran to her laptop and typed in a few things before turning back to Coulson. "There's a farmhouse a mile north of here, right at the center of the signal. That's got to be it." She said, her adrenaline starting to rise.

Coulson left the room and paged Ward and May down. The three of them were in the SUV and out of the bus within minutes.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoAoS

"I can't believe this is an alien virus!" Skye said, amazed.

"I know!" Jemma said, just as excited. "I need to show Coulson this!"

Jemma paged Coulson down, and judging by the speed in which he made it, he was just as anxious as they were to close this case.

"What'd you find?"

"Look!" She said ushering him towards the microscope.

Skye looked on excitedly. She'd been the first one Jemma had shown her discovery to.

"What am I looking at, again?"

"Wait for it!"

"What was that?" he asked, lurching back a little.

"A groundbreaking discovery!" she squealed excitedly. "I believe the firefighters initially contracted the virus when they cleaned the helmet, the friction activating some long-decaying Chitauri organism."

"Hang on! These cells are from the body of firefighters?"

"Brain cells, yes!" she said, stepping closer to him."The last vestiges of the infection; some viruses "sleep" inside host cells for years before reproducing, as they did inside the helmet the initial source. But what those cells tell us is that we're dealing with a propagating virus, which means-"

"The virus can move from person to person." Coulson finished for her.

"So cool!" Skye added, listening intently.

"Exactly! And that's the most exciting part of how is spreads, not through the air or through direct fluid transfer, but through electrostatic shock. It's like nothing we've ever seen on earth. I didn't think it possible a virus could alter its host's molecular density and polarity, although that explains the floating. I can't wait till the virologists at the CDC and S.H.I.E.L.D. HQ see this…" she trailed off, noticing that Coulson's attention was no longer on her. "Sir, is something wrong?" she frowned, following his gaze.

"Oh no!" she gasped, watching her friend in horror.

Skye's smile slowly slide off her face and was replaced with a look of confusion instead.

"What? What are you looking at?" she asked, looking at them questioningly.

"I'm so sorry, Skye." Coulson muttered brokenly.

"Wha-"

Skye turned around looking for whatever it was that was making Jemma and Coulson act this way, and was quickly met with the answer.

"Oh."

Swallowing the lump in her throat, she turned back to the two members of her team, fear clear on her face, only to find Coulson pulling an unwilling Jemma out of the lab and hitting the lock button on the glass door, as the floating object behind her dropped with a loud clang.

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**A/N: **Thanks for reading! This will be about 3 or 4 chapters long, all of which are done, so updates will happen fast!

Reviews are love!

*.*.*.*Pixiee*.*.*.*


	2. Chapter 2

**A/N: **Holy COW! The response I've gotten for this fic has been AMAZING! The pressure is on! Gosh, I really hope you all end up liking the final product. :- )

**Quick thanks **to everyone that's taken the time to read and review. I will respond to everyone individually, but some reviewed as 'guests' so this is my thanks to you!

**Warning: **No beta was used so I apologize for any mistakes!

**Disclaimer: **still don't own anything.

**Enjoy!**

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Coulson walked into the briefing room where Ward and May currently sat discussing the case.

"Sir, something wrong?" Ward frowned, noticing the worried and saddened expression on their bosses face.

"There's been-" Coulson took a moment to compose himself before continuing. "Skye's been infected."

"How?" May stepped forward, her voice softer than usual.

"Simmons believes she contracted the virus approximately 36 hours ago when she received an electrostatic shock from the first victim." He explained sadly.

"How long?" Ward asked, visibly shaken by the news.

Coulson noted the wariness that had suddenly settled on Ward's features. He knew without a doubt that not only was he was blaming himself for this, but he was probably regretting how hard he'd been on Skye.

"Sir, how long?" Ward asked approaching him.

Coulson stole a quick glance at May before speaking. "Based on when the firemen were infected, and how quickly their symptoms manifested, two hours at most."

Ward clenched his fist and shut his eyes tightly. That wasn't enough time. He needed more time.

"We should go down, see if we- we should go talk to her." May said, struggling to talk. For never showing much emotion, she seemed to be taking the news about Skye pretty hard.

Coulson agreed, urging Ward and May to go ahead of him. He needed a minute to get his emotions in check before he walked down and faced their resident hacker.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

So this is how it ends then? She gets zapped to death by an alien virus? It could be worse, she supposes. At least it'll be quick.

Skye chuckled humorlessly. She'd spent practically her entire life searching for any information she could find on her parents, only to realize now that it really didn't matter. Now that she was facing death straight in its ugly face, she could see how stupid and a waste of time that all had been. Twenty-one years of life, and all she had to show for it was a big pile of fail.

No. That wasn't true. It hadn't all been a waste. Her long search for the truth had lead her to where she was now; with S.H.I.E.L.D.- her family.

_A family you betrayed._ She reminded herself bitterly. She really was a mess.

Small sobs escaped her mouth, wracking her small frame. She'd been so stupid, contacting Miles like that. The way the team had looked when they'd found her was heartbreaking. But nothing compared to the feeling she got when _Ward_ had looked at her after he'd slapped those cuffs on her. She literally felt her heart shatter into a million pieces, because in that instant she _knew_ that she'd probably ruined the greatest friendship she'd ever had in her life. She and Ward had finally started to understand each other. Their differences were vast, but they had learned to accept each other unconditionally. Ward had even started going to her for second opinions while they were on missions, and that was _huge _considering she wasn't even an official agent. But that all ended the moment she'd called Miles.

The debt she had owed him had not been worth the pain she knew she'd caused her S.O. "Nothing was worth that." She cried to herself. And now it was too late to fix it.

"Skye…"

Skye looked up through her tear filled eyes to find a very upset Jemma standing in front of her, tears shimmering in her own eyes.

"Jemma, what are you doing?" Skye cried, stepping away from her friend, afraid to infect her. "Are you crazy? Do you want to die too?"

"Hey, it's ok. It's alright. As long as we don't touch, I'm safe." She pointed out, taking a small step towards her.

"Jemma, stop." Skye wrapped her arms around her middle, her eyes watery and red-rimmed. "Please, don't get any closer."

"I'm going to figure this out Skye. We've still got time." Jemma said determined. "Fitz and I have an idea. I just- I need you to hold on for me, ok?"

Jemma wanted nothing more than to hug her friend right now, but Skye was right. She couldn't run the risk of contracting the virus, not if she wanted to save Skye.

"I'm not going anywhere, yet." Skye attempted a smile, wanting so badly to reassure her friend, but she knew the fear she felt was reflected in her eyes.

Jemma stood in front of her for a few seconds, sending a silent prayer up to whoever was listening, and then walked away determined to find a cure.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

Ward was pacing back and forth like a caged animal while Fitz and Simmions worked tirelessly to find some kind of solution for this mess, all the while trying to get Skye to _look_ at him.

The second he'd stepped off the stairs and took in her huddled form in the far corner of the lab, he'd wanted nothing more than to run in there and pull her into his arms. He would be damned if he lost Skye like this; if he lost her at all. He won't. He _can't_. Not without her knowing. Not with her thinking that he hated her…

God, he'd been such an ass.

"May, how soon can you get us on the ground?" Coulson asked, watching the wonder twins working at hyper speed.

"Three hours." May said warily. "Our path to the sandbox has us in the middle of the Atlantic."

Ward ran his fingers through his hair in frustration. He couldn't just sit here and do nothing. He couldn't just sit back and watch her die like this… or die at all.

"Ward." Coulson called out to the young agent. "She's going to be fine." He assured. "There's only one person on this plane capable of finding a solution for this, and I'm willing to bet my life that she will." He said turning his attention to Jemma who was running around the lab like a chicken without a head.

On any given mission Ward had complete faith in the young scientist, but this wasn't any mission. On this mission, Skye's life depended on Jemma's success, and as it stood right now, time wasn't on their side.

"She's just a kid." May muttered, startling him.

"We're going to make this right." He replied automatically.

"We will." She agreed. Skye was a part of this team and she'd be damned if some alien virus took her out.

"I believe we have a winner." Fitz yelled excitedly, breaking the wary tension in the room. "Fast and efficient, the perfect delivery mechanism; not that it was easy to find a mineralized solution that could suspend the vaccine and conduct electricity." He explained, passing it to Jemma through the drop box.

"I wish you wouldn't use the word 'vaccine'. It's really more of an antiserum." Jemma mumbled nervously. "Okay, so these antibodies should be able to target the virus' antigens, if this bloody alien virus even has antigens."

Skye finally looks up, wondering if maybe she should be helping somehow, but quickly realizes that staying away from them _is _helping. It's bad enough she's got a ticket out of this world, there's no reason to take anyone else with her. Instead, Skye stands silently in her corner and watches Jemma move swiftly around the lab.

It isn't until a few minutes later that she realizes that the whole team is down here. How'd she miss that?

She caught May and Coulson's eyes for a second, both standing beside Fitz as he and Jemma discussed something. And Ward, Ward was pacing back and forth, no doubt wearing out the floor he walked on.

A small sigh escaped her lips. Ward. What she wouldn't give to have his arms wrapped around her.

She didn't know when it had happened exactly, but somehow she'd managed to go and fall in love with her friend and S.O.

"Come on, now. Come on." Jemma chanted anxiously, drawing Skye's attention to her and the tank she stood in front of.

Skye flinched when she heard what sounded like the flash of a camera going off, followed by the low humming sound that indicated the mouse was now floating. This was it. She was going to die.

She lowered her head for a second before someone knocked on the glass, grabbing her attention. _Ward. _

She took in Ward's appearance, noticing how tired he looked. His eyes were sunken in and a little reddened around the edges. He stood in front of her, motionless, eyes locked on hers.

Skye couldn't breathe for a minute. She was completely lost in the sight of him right now, drawing strength from his mere presence. Ward was safety. The world could be falling down around them, but as long as he was around, she wasn't afraid.

Skye finally closed the gap between them, unable to stand being even a little far from him anymore. There was glass between them, so she could get as close as she wanted, without infecting him.

When she reached him, she leaned her head back to meet his eyes, and placed her small trembling hand up against the glass.

"Ward…" she cried, chocking on a small sob.

Ward cleared his throat, not trusting his voice at the moment. Seeing the fear in those beautiful brown eyes and not being able to take it away, tore at him like nothing he'd ever felt before.

"It's alright Skye. We'll fix this." He said hoping to God he was right, because if they couldn't fix this, if Skye didn't survive this; he was sure he'd never be able to come back from it- from losing her.

"I'm sorry I messed this up."

"Skye, this isn't your fault." Ward stressed.

Skye shook her, tears forming in her eyes. "I should've stayed back. I'm not ready for the field. You've said it yourself." She said, allowing the tears to fall.

Ward cringed knowing that he'd probably said those exact words to her at some point or another. What kind of an S.O. was he? Instead of instilling confidence in his rookie, he'd filled her with doubt. When this was all over, he was going to fix this- fix them.

"Skye-"

"Ward, Coulson needs you upstairs." May said, interrupting the pair.

Ward sighed, not wanting to leave Skye's side.

"It won't take long." May said, her voice low and gentle, and _so _unlike May.

Ward nodded, letting her know he'd heard.

"I'll be right back." He said, turning his attention back to the terrified girl in front of him. "And this _isn't _your fault, Skye." _It's mine. _He thought bitterly to himself.

Skye nodded silently attempting a small smile for him.

He placed his hand on the glass in front of her smaller one, curling his fingers slightly so they 'cupped' her hand.

"I won't be far." He assures her, before reluctantly leaving the cargo hold and disappearing up the stairs.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

Ward walked into the briefing room feeling antsy. After talking to Skye and getting an idea of where her head was at, he wanted to be at her side as much as possible.

"Agent May, Agent Ward, this is Agent Blake from HQ." Coulson said, introducing the older man on the other side of the monitor.

"Couslon, nice to see you're not dead." Agent Blake said jokingly.

"Did you get our analysis of the virus?" Coulson asked, dismissing the man's attempt at conversation.

"We did, and S.H.I.E.L.D. has no record of anything like it. No one does. So it's imperative it reach the sandbox without incident. In case of a pandemic, we're going to need it." Agent Blake said matter of fact.

"I'm aware, but don't need more orders or ultimatums. I need answers, Blake." Coulson said impatiently.

"I wish I had some for you. I'm sorry Coulson, but I've been ordered to inform you that if you have infected cargo, you need to dump it." He said with such finality that it took all of Ward's self control not to rip through the damn screen. This was Skye they were talking about!

"Do you copy me, Coulson? The orders are coming from up top." Blake warned, speaking a little louder.

Ward's fists and jaw clenched and unclenched as he fought to keep his cool, but he could feel it slipping away little by little.

"I'm sorry bad connection; didn't get that last part." Coulson held his hand to his ear as he hit the 'disconnect' button, cutting the call off.

He turned his attention to his two agents, locking eyes with Ward.

"We're not giving up." He assured the man, before turning his attention to May. "Don't even think about it." He warned. May followed rules, followed protocol regardless of what was at stake, but not this time, not if he had anything to say about it.

"I don't have to. That's your job." She smirked, letting both Coulson and Ward know that she was on board with whatever plans they had.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

"Bloody hell!" Jemma yelped, startling both Skye and Fitz when she dropped a metal clamp.

"You ok Jem?" Skye asked, uncurling herself as she stood up.

Jemma glared. Was Skye seriously asking _her_ if _she _was ok? Because yes, of course she was ok, she wasn't the one bloody dying, now was she?

"Jem?" Fitz called out quietly from the other side of the glass. He'd done his part earlier, designing the tool that would deliver the vaccine, but he was starting to wonder if he shouldn't go in there and do something more. Jemma's stress level had to be at critical level by now.

"No Fitz, I'm not fine! I'm not bloody fine! I need to- I have to fix this!" she yelled, on the verge of hysterics.

"You will, Jem." He assured. "Everything's gonna be fine." He said, trying to calm his partner down.

"Please stop saying that. I see you looking at your watch." She sighed, rubbing her temples.

She needed to find a bloody antiserum. She didn't have a choice. Skye was not going to die because of her incompetence.

"Jemma…" Skye called softly. "It's ok." She said, smiling at her friend softly. "You're doing everything you can. I know that. Just- it's ok." She assured.

Jemma's eyes filled with tears, wanting so badly to hug Skye right now. She was going to make this right, and when she did, she was going to hug the hell out of that girl.

"I'm sorry. I just- I had a bit of a moment. I'm alright now. I have to get back to work." She said, wiping her eyes and picking up where she'd left off.

"Jem, are you sure you don't need my help? Maybe I can—"

"Are you sure this thing even works?" Jemma asked suddenly, eyeing the small contraption in her hand.

"Yeah, well, you know it does!" Fitz said, taken aback. "My device isn't the issue, it's the vaccine!" he argued.

"Antiserum!" Jemma shouted. "And all I'm wondering is whether you calibrated it correctly."

"Guys." Skye called out.

"It's not the device. Don't put this on me. I was doing just fine tucked away in a safe, indoor, non-mobile lab at the academy! Then you had to go and drag us into this flying circus! We didn't even pass our field assessments, for God's sake!" Fitz yelled through the glass.

"Guys…" Skye tried again.

"Oh Please, as if I forced you to follow me anywhere." Jemma scoffed.

"You said, and I quote "Oh Fitz, it's the most perfect opportunity for us to see the world! We'd be fools to pass this one up!" he said in a voice that was meant to sound like Jemma's.

"I hate it when you use that voice. That's not even how I sound." She said angrily. "And you were just afraid of going into the field, and don't you dare act like these last few months haven't been the highlight of your entire pasty life!"

"Pasty? Really? Well, when did you become so sun-kissed? Because I'm pretty sure that every minute of every day, you've been stuck in a lab right beside me. At the academy, at sci-ops, this plane! You've been beside me the whole damn time!"

"GUYS!" Skye finally yelled, tired of being ignored. "Will you STOP arguing!" She said, looking weary and terrified.

Fitz and Simmons looked down, ashamed. This wasn't about them.

"You have to fix this." Fitz said, looking at Jemma. "We can't lose you." He directed his eyes to Skye.

Skye smiled sadly. "I trust you guys. I know you'll find a way."

"Skye, I- I don't know how." Jemma admitted sadly.

"Jem-"

"I don't know how, Fitz!" she yelled, turning her attention to her partner. "The antibodies from the three firefighters aren't strong enough to fight this virus. It's born from alien DNA. There's no one to create an antiserum from because no one's actually survived this except…"

"The Chitauri!" they both said in unison.

"The minky bastard who actually wore the helmet had the virus!" Fitz jumped up in excitement. They were finally getting somewhere.

"Yeah, and managed without ever emitting an electrostatic pulse because—"

"It was immune!" Fitz said, finishing the sentence for her.

"Yes! She was just the carrier, like typhoid Mary." She added, turning to Skye excitedly.

"She? Well, no, wait. That… you don't really think that- okay…doesn't matter.  
So if I can scrape some epithelial cells from the inside of the helmet, we can create a vaccine?" he stammered, finally seeing some light at the end of the very dark tunnel.

"Yes! Antiserum, but yes!"

Fitz smacked the glass in excitement and ran off to get the helmet.

"So wait, you- I- I have a chance?" Skye asked, afraid to get her hopes up. I mean sure she trusted FitzSimmons, they were absolute geniuses after all, but them finding a cure for this alien virus that was set to blow her up in less than an hour just seemed unreal to her. She was never that lucky.

Jemma settled down a bit and walked towards her friend.

"There's always a chance, Skye."

"Jem, I just-"

"No. You stop right there!" Jemma said, halting Skye midsentence. "Don't you do that, don't you lose hope. You can't tell me that you trust me, then act like you're already dead." She admonished.

Skye slumped down, fidgeting with her nails, "I'm not losing hope Jemma, I'm just being… cautious." She shrugged nonchalantly.

"Cautious is good, I suppose."

Skye smiled.

"There's something I want to say to you Jem. I've been meaning to talk to you about this for a while now, but I just never got around to it, and well, now seems as good time as ever."

Jemma hesitated for a moment. She had a feeling this was going to be some sort of goodbye speech and she wasn't sure she could handle listening to it right now.

"Skye, you can tell me whatever it is later." She attempted to stall her friend.

"We don't know that for sure."

Jemma sighed mournfully and took a seat in front of Skye.

Skye smiled gratefully, but didn't say anything for a few minutes as she tried to organize her thoughts.

"You know, I never expected to make friends here." She started softly. "When I left St. Agnus, I had already made joining S.H.I.E.L.D mymission. I had met Miles a few weeks before I ran away, and he'd helped me hack into the orphanage's computer system. That's where I found the only document they had on me- a file redacted by S.H.I.E.L.D." she sighed, rubbing her legs nervously. "Miles gave me a brief rundown of what S.H.I.E.L.D was, or what he _thought _S.H.I.E.L.D was, and we came up with a plan to get me in. I had it all planned out Jemma. Get in, do what I had to do in order to access the info I needed, and then get out. It all seemed so simple." She chuckled, seeing how _naïve_ she'd been for even thinking that. "But then I got here and I started to realize what S.H.I.E.L.D- what _you_ guys were really about, and I just- I wanted to be a part of that. I wanted to be a part of something bigger, of something _good_… but most of all I wanted to be a part of this team; this little family we'd somehow created without intending too."

Jemma listened intently, wishing for the hundredth time that she could hug her friend. They both made one hell of a pair, crying like little babies, all snot-nosed and blotchy.

"And now-"Skye lowered her head solemnly, struggling to keep her composure. "I just want you to know how sorry I am for betraying you the way I did Jemma."

"No, Sky—"

"Let me finish, please." Skye pleaded.

"Sorry."

"I'm sorry for lying to you, for lying to the team. I- there's no excuse for what I did. All the reasons I had for doing what I did, they weren't worth losing my _family_ over. I was stupid and blind and I just- I can't express how sorry I truly am for that, but I need you to know that. I need you to know how sorry I am for almost ruining everything we'd all built. And more importantly, I want you to know that you are the greatest friend- sister- I could have ever asked for. I can't thank you enough for sticking by me the days after everything with Miles went down. Despite the fact that I had hurt you, you never shut me out, and that meant the world to me. I trust you with my life, Jemma. If anyone is going to fix this, it's going to be you. I know it." Skye said, unsuccessfully trying to hold back the tears.

"Skye, I'm going to fix this." Jemma said, suddenly more determined. She'd be damned if she was going to lose Skyeto some bloody Chitauri virus. "I promise I will."

Skye offered her friend a watery smile, feeling somewhat at peace. She still had one huge apology left. She wouldn't die happy if she didn't get to apologize to the one person she was sure she'd hurt the most.

Talking to Ward was definitely going to be the hardest thing she'd ever do.

* * *

**A/N: **3rd chapter will be up tomorrow! Hope ya'll enjoyed this update!

*.*.*.*Pixiee*.*.*.*

Reviews are love!


	3. Chapter 3

**A/n: **Here we go! Last chapter ya'll! I'm sorry I didn't post this sooner, I ended up revising the chapter to make sure it sounded decent, and yea… I ended up making some changes. Took me a lot longer than I thought it would, but hopefully it was worth it.

**I want to **thank you all once again for being so flippin' amazing! I seriously never expected the amazing response I've gotten. Some of the reviews and PMs I've recieved have literally put tears in my eyes. Ya'll have no idea how much your words mean to me. I truly do love you guys.

**Emmy-kent, **I really hope this fic is everything you asked for. Thank you so much for the support! Much love.

**Warning: **no beta was used, all mistakes are mine.

**Disclaimer: **I own nothing!

* * *

Ward watched the monitor, opting to watch FitzSimmons work from the computer room. He knew he'd promised Skye he'd return, and he would, but he just needed some time alone to get himself together.

There'd been a few times when he'd almost convinced himself to go down there just to be near her, telling himself that he didn't have to actually talk to her, but he'd stopped himself because there was no way he would be able to stay away from her knowing how terrified she was, and Skye… Skye needed something that he wasn't sure he could offer right at this moment.

The realization that Skye could die- could _leave _him- scared him more than he could even explain. He wasn't sure when it happened or how, but one day Skye stopped being just his rookie and became a little something more. He thinks it was probably the day he found Skye with Miles, because he can't remember ever feeling as much hatred for someone as he'd felt when he'd seen his stupid smug face.

It didn't really matter though. The point was that he was irrevocably in love with Skye and he didn't know what to do about it. He'd tried burying his feelings for a while, partly because every time he looked at Skye he'd see the image of her and Miles, and that just pissed him off and kept the wound fresh, but it was mostly because he was afraid. He wasn't exactly the relationship type of guy. Hell, there was a time in which he thought he was incapable of actually loving someone other his family. Sure he'd had flings here and there, but he'd never been one for attachments. But then Skye barged into his simple, structured, solitary life and wreaked havoc.

His S.O. would kick his ass if he could see him now. His S.O. had always warned him about this stuff; told him that feelings and emotions- those were two things that he couldn't afford to have when you did this kid of work, because those two things could-_would-_ compromise you. So Ward had trained hard and made damn sure to keep any feelings or emotions buried down deep. It had worked too. Then Coulson pulled him into this crazy ass plane and tossed Skye in his way. Everything he'd learned went straight to hell the moment he met her.

So now, here he was, struggling like hell to recall all his training so he wouldn't lose his shit. The last thing Skye needed right now was for him to go all soft on her. She was terrified, and despite the fact that he'd treated her like crap these past few weeks, Skye seemed to feel safe around him, and he'd be damned if he didn't at least give her that.

"Why aren't you down there?" May's voice startled him from his thoughts.

"They don't need an audience." Ward said simply, trying to mask the emotions he knew were brewing within him.

May regarded him for a moment, leaning back against the table.

"There's nothing you could've done to prevent this." She said, knowing exactly what the younger agent was thinking. "We didn't know."

Ward's jaw clenched and unclenched as he watched Fitz take off up the stairs and out of the camera's range.

He could still see Skye and Jemma though. They were talking and Skye was crying. Watching her was pure torture.

"I wanted it to be a person, some super-powered psychopath, someone I could hurt, someone I could punish." Ward growled angrily. "That I could do." He said. "What I can't do is protect you guys from stuff I can't even see…or understand."

May nodded, knowing exactly what Ward was feeling. She understood more than he or anyone on this plane realized. She knew that the team saw her as emotionless, and she was ok with that, in fact, she preferred it that way. However, that didn't mean they were right.

The only reason she had agreed to "pilot" the bus all those months ago was because she knew she didn't trust anyone else to watch Coulson's back. The last time she'd trusted S.H.I.E.L.D to keep him safe, he'd ended up dead. So yes, she understood Ward's need to protect his own; especially Skye.

May could clearly see that there was something special between Ward and Skye; something more than just an S.O./ rookie relationship. It was in the way they talked, in the way they trained, hell, in the way they argued. It was in the way Skye freaked out every time Ward walked in from a mission with scrapes and bruises littering his face, and in the way that Ward sat outside Skye's bunk when he thought everyone was asleep and Skye was having a nightmare.

May hoped for both their sakes that Simmons figured this out. Losing Skye would undoubtedly kill Ward.

"Simmons is one of- if not _the_ best scientist S.H.I.E.L.D has. If anyone can figure this out, it's her." She said, watching the monitor.

Ward sure as hell hoped so.

"You should be down there with her." She urged. "She needs you."

"I know." He muttered softly.

He gave May a small smile and started to make his way out of the computer room when Fitz ran past him in a blur.

"Fitz!" Coulson yelled, chasing after him.

Ward and May exchanged a brief glance before running after their boss.

"Sir?" Ward questioned, as all three ran down the stairs.

"I don't know. I don't know." Coulson muttered, stepping off the last step only to see Fitz entering the lab.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

"I got it!" Fitz yelled, running into the lab.

"Fitz, no!" Both Skye and Jemma yelled.

"What are you doing? Are you insane, Fitz?" Skye said angry at him for being so reckless.

"Too late. It's done. Just try to keep your hands off of me, yeah?" he said nonchalantly, like he hadn't just endangered his life.

Skye covered her face in frustration. God, this was so screwed up. Didn't anybody care that she could let off an electrostatic thingy or whatever and infect them? Did they all want to end up like the fireme… oh God.

"Fitz, I don't know what you think you're doing, but-" Jemma started

"I'm doing what we always do. We're gonna fix this together." Fitz said not wasting time and pulling the helmet carefully out of the box. "Here, swab it." He said handing her the solution she'd need.

"Oh god, oh god, oh god…" Skye mutter nervously.

"Skye, what is it? What's wrong?" Jemmas asked noticing her friend start to panic.

Ward walked up to the glass tapping it lightly to get her attention.

"Skye-"

"What happens if you don't find a cure?" She finally asked, locking eyes with Jemma.

"Y- you die." Jemma whispered brokenly.

Skye shook her head. "I know that part. What happens though?" she asked again, desperation coloring her voice. She was sure she knew, but she had to know for sure.

"You're body will release a pulse—"

"Like the firemen right? One stronger than lightening?" Skye finished for her.

"Uh- I- yes." Jemma stammered nervously, still not following where this was going.

"Oh God." Skye walked towards Coulson, tears already forming in her already swollen eyes. "You have to get me off this plane." she demanded.

"Skye-"

"No. You have to get me off right now, Coulson. If you don't we're all going to die!" she cried frantically.

"Skye." Ward said stepping into her line of vision. "It'll be ok."

"No, no it won't! You can't die! I'm not going to be the one that kills you all. You have to get me off the plane, Ward." She pleaded brokenly, her devastation palpable.

"Skye. Skye, stop!" Ward raised his voice, breaking through her panic.

His face softened when their eyes locked, "We're not there yet." He said his voice low and gentle. "Let them finish." He motioned to Fitz and Simmons who were standing a few feet away from her.

Skye took a deep breath to calm herself. They were right. They weren't there yet. But if whatever FitzSimmons had in mind didn't work, then she'd have to figure something out. She knew the protocols for situations like this, but she had a feeling their team leader wouldn't be following them, based on his actions so far.

Maybe May was right, feeling and emotions really did compromise people in this line of work.

"Fitz, Simmons, tell me you've got something?" Coulson said, hopeful. He needed to options.

Jemma and Fitz exchanged looks briefly, before Jemma stepped closer to the glass.

"Sir, if- if this doesn't work then I'm afraid-"

"No! You fix this, damn it!" Ward yelled cutting her off as he slammed his hand against the glass. "Don't you give up on her!"

"No one is giving up Ward!" Jemma said, affronted. "If an—"

"We're doing everything we can, Ward." Fitz assured him.

Ward's hand slid down and off the glass deflated, his eyes trained on Skye. "I know. I'm sorry."

"Third time's a charm, yeah?" Fitz sighed nervously.

Jemma bit her lip nervously and walked back to her work station. They were running out of time.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

Skye rested her forehead against the glass wall and placed her small hand up against it like she'd done earlier. The need to get closer to Ward was overwhelming. If she could just touch him one more time she'd… God, she didn't want to die, not without telling him.

"Skye…"

"I'm scared." She admitted quietly looking up at him through the tears in her eyes.

Ward frowned, completely at a loss. He's never felt so hopeless or ever wanted to hold someone in his arms more than he did in this moment.

"It's ok to be scared." He said, placing his hand in front of hers. "And for what it's worth, I'm right here, Skye."

A small sob escaped her lips fogging up the glass in front of her. "I'm sorry I hurt you, Grant." She cried sadly. "I'm just- I'm so sorry."

"Hey, hey, it's ok." He said, trying to keep her calm."I know I've been an ass these past few weeks- I've been too hard on you-"

"No, Ward-"

"Listen to me." He cut her off desperate to get this off his chest. "I forgive you. I may not understand your reasoning behind what you did, but I realize that I don't need to know. Not anymore. You've proven yourself as an asset to this team and you've proven yourself as a friend. I'm just sorry it's taken me so long to tell you that."

They locked eyes, both afraid to look away or speak another word, so they simply stood still, face to face, and communicated through their eyes what they couldn't with words.

There were many things to be said between them, but they both had to believe that there'd be time for that _after _she was cured.

"Done!" Jemma shouted, startling the group.

Ward and Skye broke out of their moment reluctantly and joined the rest of the team. This was it, do or die.

"Alright then, shall we do this?" Fitz said taking the antiserum from Jemma's hands and walking over to the mice. "May I do the honors?"

Jemma nodded nervously and quickly sought out Skye. _God, let this work. _She prayed silently.

"I can't breathe." Skye whispered nervously, unconsciously taking a step back, closer to where Ward was standing on the other side.

Ward, May, and Coulson watched as Fitz administered the antiserum with bated breaths. What literally took seconds to do, felt like hours.

Fitz placed the mouse back in the tank and gave it a few seconds, before smiling up at the girls. It had worked.

"We did it" he said a mixture of excitement and relief in his voice.

"It worked?" Skye asked, afraid to hope.

"It seems to ha—"

"No!"

A small burst of blue light flashed in front of them seconds before the last mouse floated up.

The second the light flashed, Skye knew it was over. This was it for her. And while she didn't want to die, she could accept it. What she couldn't accept was being the reason her team died. Saving them would be the last good thing she'd do on this damn forsaken planet.

"Skye- I- I'm so- I'm so sorry." Fitz said brokenly. He'd failed her.

Skye nodded quietly, tears flooding her eyes as she made her way to Coulson.

"AC, I know the protocol in these circumstances—"

"We're not there yet. There's still time." Coulson interrupted, not at all prepared to give up.

Skye smiled sadly. "You and I both know that's not true AC."

Coulson shook his head vehemently, "What I know is that I will exhaust every possible resource available at the moment to fix this. I'm not giving up." He said, taking a step back. "It isn't over until it's over Skye."

Skye watched as Coulson retreated up the stairs. She was going to miss that man.

"He's right." Jemma spoke suddenly. "We have to try again, Fitz. The electrostatic pulse from the third rat seemed much less, so we're making progress. If we can calibrate the antiserum—"

"Jemma."

"I just need to tweak it a lit—"

"Jemma-"

"I can do this!" she yelled, tears clouding her eyes. "Skye, I can do this." She pleaded.

"Would you all mind if I had a minute with Jemma?" she asked, looking up at the three agents she'd come to love so much.

Fitz agreed, reluctantly leaving the confines of the lab and joining Ward and May on the other side.

"Let's go." May said, ushering a distraught Fitz up the stairs.

Ward hesitated a few seconds, not wanting to be away from her for a second, but he couldn't ignore the pleading look in her eyes. So he placed his hand on the glass once more and rested his forehead beside it. "It's not ending like this, Skye." He said trying to blink away the moisture building in his eyes.

Silent tears fell down Skye's cheeks as she tried to memorize every inch of the man in front of her. It _killed _her to know that she'd never get to lie in his arms or kiss him or hear him call her rookie again. If she had the chance to do it all over again, she wouldn't make the same mistake; she'd make sure he knew how much he meant to her, how much she needed him in her life. But she didn't have a second chance and time was running out, so this was their goodbye. She had to make him leave, because otherwise, she'd never be able to get past him.

"You're the best thing that's ever happened to me, Ward." She whispered, caressing his cheek through the glass. "And I'm sorry I ruined that."

Ward frowned. "Skye-"

Skye was the first to move, slowly dropping her hand. She gave him a watery smile, trying to somehow assure him that she was ok.

"I only need a few minutes with Jemma, then you can come back down and we can- we can talk." She promised, breaking inside as she did so.

Ward held her gaze for a second, before reluctantly leaving. He'd give her five minutes, before coming back down. He knew Skye better than anyone, and his rookie was plotting something.

"I don't understand." Jemma mumbled to herself as she stared at the last mouse they'd given the antiserum to.

Skye waited until Ward disappeared through the door upstairs before turning her attention towards Jemma. God, she hoped Jemma forgave her for this. It's for their own good.

"I'm so sorry Jem." Skye whispered, grabbing the fire extinguisher from the floor.

In one swift move, Skye brought the extinguisher down on Jemma's head, instantly knocking her unconscious.

Skye's vision blurred but she quickly wiped the gathering tears away and made her way to the lab doors. She was doing this for the team.

So they could live.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

"Coulson, Agent Blake is on the line. He wants to know what's going on. If you won't answer, he asked for Ward." May said walking into the computer room.

"Sir, what are our orders?" Ward asked out of habit. He was pretty sure he already knew what Coulson's orders where, and he'd never been more thankful to their boss than he was right this minute. Coulson's need to protect Skye eased Ward's mind a little, because he was sure that if he was ever in a situation where he couldn't get to Skye, Coulson sure as hell would. Or he'd die trying.

Coulson wasn't ready to give up just yet. Maybe he was in denial, but he didn't care. If he could die and come back to life, than there was still hope for Skye.

"They're unchanged." He said leaving no room for discussion.

The brief silence was quickly interrupted by an alarm going off on the plane.

"What the hell is that?" Fitz asked nervously, speaking up for the first time since he'd left Jemma and Skye in the lab.

May quickly pulled up a screen showing the plane's layout.

"Someone's lowering the cargo-hold ramp."

Ward's heart dropped, knowing that there was only one reason that ramp would be opening. He bolted from the room and made his way down.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

"Bloody hell…"

Jemma winced as she slowly pulled herself up from the ground, feeling slightly unstable as the room spun around her. She couldn't believe Skye had hi—"Hey, it worked!" she yelled excitedly, watching as mouse scampered around the tank.

"The pulse must have just knocked the rat unconscious—" Jemma trailed off, taking in the silence around her. "Skye?" she looked around the lab, her eyes landing on Skye just in time to see her inching down the cargo hold ramp. _Oh no, no! _

"Skye? Skye! Skye, what are you doin?" Jemma yelled frantically, alternating between pulling on the glass door and banging on it. "No! No Skye! Skye, don't, it worked! The antiserum worked!" she cried in full panic mode.

Skye glanced back and locked eyes with Jemma for a brief moment sending her a silent apology, and jumped.

"Skye! Skye!" Jemma cried as she watched in horror as her best friend threw herself off the plane. '_This can't be happening, this can't be happening.'_ She mumbled frantically to herself as she ran back and quickly assembled the antiserum device. '_This __**wasn't **__happening!'_

She ran to the door and breathed a quick sigh of relief when it slid open, and headed to the parachutes. Skye wasn't dying today. She just wasn't.

"Jemma!"

"Ward, she jumped, Skye jumped!" she cried allowing Ward to take the parachute from her. "The antiserum works!"

As soon as the device touched his hand, Ward ran down and off the ramp, buckling his parachute in place once he was free falling.

His eyes narrowed as he scanned the vast sky around him. He finally spotted Skye falling out of control about a mile below him. Instantly, his training took over and he put his legs together and arms back, as he dove down at a rapid rate. He wasn't losing her.

When he got closer, he could hear her panicked cries as she flailed frantically trying to stop her rapid fall. It wasn't until she spotted him above her, that her arms went from flailing uncontrollably to reaching out for him.

Ward spread his body out in order to slow his descent and waited for the right moment to pull her body towards him.

Skye immediately wrapped her arms and legs around him just as Ward administered the antiserum. She felt a quick shock and then her body slumped forward as a faint burst of energy left her body.

He adjusted Skye's body in his arms and held her tightly to him with one arm while he pulled the parachute with the other. He felt her tense up as they jerked up due to the parachutes resistance.

"I got you." He whispered in her ear.

"I know." She whispered back, her warm breath fanning across his skin as she hid her face in the nook of his neck.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

"What the hell were you thinking?" Coulson yelled, as Skye and Ward stood motionless and silent in front of him. "Don't get me wrong. I'm happy you're both alive truly.  
And I realize you were trying to save the team, but what you did today, that was not your call." He said, directing his attention to Skye.

"AC—"

Coulson shook his head, stopping her before she could speak. "What you did was stupid and reckless." He said, his anger deflating a bit. "Not only did you almost kill yourself, but you almost took Ward with you."

Skye lowered her head, tears slowly making their trek down her cheeks for the millionth time today. Couslon was right. In her stupid attempt to save them all, she almost ended up killing the one person she wanted to save the most. If this didn't prove what a disaster and liability she was, then she didn't know what would.

"Don't you ever pull a stunt like that again Skye." He said breaking her out of her thoughts. "We would _hate _to lose you."

Skye nodded silently, keeping her eyes cast down. She'd said sorry so many times already that she wasn't sure they'd believe her if she said it again.

Coulson sighed, returning to his seat behind the desk. "Now, go get out of those wet clothes before you get sick." He ordered, dismissing them.

"Thank you sir." Ward said as he walked to the door.

"Oh, uh, right. Thanks… AC." She said, hesitating a bit before she followed Ward out the door and down the stairs.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

Skye lay in her bunk curled up in blankets as she tried to stave off the cold that had clung to her after getting out of her wet clothes.

It'd been a few hours since she'd literally faced death, and Ward had yet to talk to her. She'd attempted to thank him for saving her life yet _again_, but he'd brushed her off and made a beeline to his bunk making it clear that he didn't want to talk.

She really couldn't blame him though. It was bad enough she'd betrayed the team by contacting the Rising Tide during a mission, but now she went and almost got them all killed because she was an idiot. If she were Coulson, she'd have kicked her ass off the team the first time she'd screwed up. Maybe they were just buying their time and she'd get booted as soon as they landed. Who knows?

The only thing she was sure of in this very moment was that she wanted Ward. He didn't even have to talk to her if he didn't want to; just his presence alone made her feel safe. A feeling she desperately needed to feel that right now.

She closed her eyes as silent sobs wracked her body.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

Ward walked out of the bathroom, steam billowing out behind him as he headed to his bunk.

He stopped a few feet away from his door though when he found Jemma standing quietly in the hall; her attention completely focused on Skye's closed one.

"What are you doing?" he asked, his eyebrow rising in surprise when Jemma suddenly shushed him.

"She's crying." She whispered, concern etched on her pale face. "I tried talking to her earlier, but she wouldn't let me in. I'm worried about her, Ward."

Ward stared at the closed door contemplating his next action. He could either ignore the fact that Skye was upset, probably hurt at his lack of communication since they'd left Coulson's office, or he could go in there and do what he'd wanted to do so badly a few hours ago.

His decision was made for him when he heard a faint sniffle coming from the other side. He was going in.

He'd avoided her the whole afternoon as he tried to come to terms with the fact that he'd been minutes away from losing her at her own hands. The fear that flooded his body when he'd realized what she was doing, coupled with the relief he'd felt once he had her in his arms, was overwhelming. But now, after having some time to think, he was ready to fix his rookie.

"I've got this Jemma." He said, pulling his override keycard out.

Jemma nodded her thanks and returned to her bunk, a knowing smile on her lips.

AoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoSAoS

Ward waited until Jemma's door slide shut before his swiped his keycard and entered his override password. When the door slid open, he noticed Skye tense up, startled at the unexpected intrusion.

"Sorry, I didn't mean to scare you." He said softly, sliding the door shut behind him and walking over to sit on the edge of the bed.

Skye was tightly wrapped in her covers, the only part of her visible were her red puffy eyes. "I can leave if yo— "

Before he'd had the chance to finish that sentence, he found himself with a lap full of Skye, as she scrambled onto her knees and threw her arms around him, quiet sobs ripping through her small frame.

"Shhh, it's alright. I've got you." He soothed gently.

They remained like that for a while, until Skye finally calmed down. Her body slumped against him, the events of the day finally catching up to her.

"You ok?" he asked, finally breaking the silence.

Skye took a deep breath, clutching a handful of his shirt in her hands. "I am now." She said, leaning her head back to meet his gaze.

Ward smiled softly, adjusting their position so that she was now comfortably sitting on his lap.

"Skye, what you did today—"

"Was stupid and reckless, I know." She cut him off, pouting.

"No, it was brave." He said, surprising her.

"Oh…"

Ward's eyebrows went up, amused. "Oh? You have nothing else to say, little miss chatter box?" he teased playfully.

Skye blushed. "I- nobody's ever called me brave before." She shrugged, shying away from his intense gaze. "I'm usually the one screwing things up, which I know you're aware of."

"We're not talking about the past anymore." He said, taking her hands in his. "We're talking about the sacrifice you were prepared to make today. You were ready to die for this team, Skye. That right there is what being an agent is about."

"I couldn't let you die." She said, visibly tensing at just the thought. "I couldn't be the one responsible for that. You and the team- you guys are important, Grant. The world needs you, and I- I—"

"You are important too Skye."

Skye shook her head sadly. No, she really wasn't.

"Yes you are." Ward stressed vehemently. "You're important to _me_!"

Skye's shocked expression sent a pang of hurt through Ward. How could this beautiful, smart, imperfectly _perfect _girl not know how important she was? How could he have let this happen?

"I need you." He said with all the sincerity he could muster. He needed her to understand. "Not Skye the hacker, not Skye the smart ass, or Skye the rookie. I need _you_." He placed her left hand over his chest, eyes fixed on hers. "I need you every time a mission goes wrong, every time I come back bloody and bruised, and I can't figure out why I still put up with this crap. I need you every time I wake up at night trying to forget the images that haunt me in my sleep, and most importantly, I need you at the end of the day when I need to stop being Agent Ward and I just want to be Grant." He wiped the stray tears falling down her cheek. "You're the only one that gets me Skye."

"Grant…"

"I know this is a lot to take in, but after today—"

"I love you!"

Ward froze, his eyes locked on Skye.

"I love you Grant." Skye repeated nervously. The universe had given her a second chance, and she was taking it. "I love you so damn much, it scares me."

She leaned forward, needing to be closer.

"Hurting you was the biggest mistake I've ever made, Grant. And no matter how many times I apologize, it'll never be enough." She smiled sadly, clutching his hands tightly in hers. "I can't change what I did; can't take back the hurt and the lies, but for what it's worth, what I did was not worth losing you over." She sniffed softly. "No one, _no one_, has ever made me feel the way you make me feel. You frustrate me to no end, piss me off with all your protocol crap and early wake up calls, and you kick my ass day after day with those ridiculous training session, but you are also the only person who makes me feel safe and protected. Nothing can touch me when you're around."

She rested her forehead against his, closing her eyes to try and stave more tears. This all felt so surreal.

"Just the thought of not having you near me, of you leaving me, terrifies me." She muttered softly. "I can't lose you, Grant. I just can't."

Ward swallowed the lump in his throat, fighting the tears that were threatening to form. All this time they'd wasted…

"Say something, please." She whispered, terrified.

There would be no going back after this; at least not for him. They'd crossed a huge line tonight, but he was prepared to deal with whatever outcome may come their way, so long as he had her by his side, the rest didn't really matter.

"Grant?"

Ward took her face in his hands gently and brought her closer, feeling her breath hitch.

"I love you too, rookie." He smiled softly, searching her eyes and seeing only happy tears in them.

Skye leaned into his touch, a small smile marring her face.

"I've dreamt about the day you'd say those words to me." She whispered breathlessly, her lips ghosting over his. "Reality is so much better."

Ward smiled softly, slowly inching closer to her lips.

"Just so you know. I'm no good with relationships." He warned nudging her nose with his, his breath ghosting over her lips making her tremble softly.

"We'll take it slow." She assured, wanting to feel his lips on hers already.

Ward nodded his agreement and leaned forward, finally closing the gap between them.

The kiss was explosive. The minute their lips touched, Skye swore there were fireworks going off.

Ward deepened the kiss, running his calloused hands through her hair and down her back, eliciting a soft moan from her lips. Skye was literally on cloud nine. She felt weightless, euphoric even. If they had been standing right now, she was sure her knees would have buckled.

Months of fighting the urge to take her into his arms had finally come to a head. Having Skye in his arms, his mouth on hers; was pure bliss. Why had he waited so long to do this?

Eventually Ward pulled away when it became apparent that they needed breathe.

"So, we're doing this?" Skye asked, nervously biting her lower lip.

Ward smiled that sexy lopsided smile she loved so much and gently tugged her lip from between her teeth with his thumb, "We're doing this." He leaned in and placed a soft kiss on her lips, then on the tip of her nose.

Skye sighed happily, wrapping her arms around his waist and resting her head on his chest. Today had been the worst and best day of her life.

"Stay with me?" she mumbled sleepily into his neck.

Ward shuffled forward, maneuvering them both into a lying position without loosening his hold on her. He reached down and pulled her covers over them both before laying a gentle kiss on her forehead.

"Get some sleep." He whispered, tucking a loose strand of hair behind her ear.

"Be here in the mornin'?"

"No other place I'd rather be." He promised.

"I love you." She whispered sleepily.

"I love you too." Ward pulled her closer to him, running soothing circles on her back.

Now that he knew what it felt like to have her in his arms, Ward was going to make sure she never left them.

After a few minutes of silence, Skye's breathing evened out and Ward followed her into a nightmare free sleep.

_Fin._

* * *

**A/N: **Yep, I did it. I made them a couple! I hope ya'll don't mind, but I just couldn't resist. I mean, we all know SkyeWard will happen in the show eventually, but I'm not a very patient person, so while the powers that be (aka the writers) get their act together, I'm going to sit here in front of my laptop and fluff the crap out of the show! Who's with me?

Anyway, I REALLY, REALLY hope you all enjoyed this last chapter. Thank you all for being so amazing and leaving me such amazing feedback. See ya'll on the next one!

Much love,

Pixiee


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